I have a firmly held rule that people should never give live pets as gifts. It comes from spending too much time with people who work as animal cruelty officers. Black Delphinium's suggestion would be a good exception.

As someone who worked for an animal welfare organisation and who had to investigate animal cruelty, there is no way that I can support live animals as gifts. The only time that it is acceptable is, like other posters have mentioned, when the recipient is actively involved in the process and has the means and understanding to care for the animal. I'm sure the person who brought along the hamster is a lovely person, but by not really thinking sensibly potentially put the hamster in harm's way.

However, someone DID bring a live gift to a white elephant exchange I recently attended - in the form of two lobsters. It was quite popular and the person who won them enjoyed them immensely the next day.

I can definitely attest to betta fish being a little harder to care for than I thought. My daughter bought a betta fish with her allowance, which we kept in a huge tank. However, we tend to keep the house a bit on the cold side and we turn the heat off at night. When the nights started getting colder, I noticed that the fish was looking a little less than well. I talked to my husband and we ordered a heater. However, when it came, I think I turned it too high too fast, and the water changed temperature too fast and shocked it, because it died. I felt really bad for killing my daughter's fish, and have promised her a new one when we move (the tank is drained right now). And I will definitely have the tank preheated and ready next time, so there's no shock. I had looked up the right temperature, but hadn't thought about the extreme change being too much too fast. Poor Swimmy.

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Emily is 8 years old! 1/07Jenny is 6 years old! 10/08Charlotte is 4 years old! 8/10Megan is 2 years old! 10/12Lydia is 4 months old! 12/14

Terrible idea. If an animal is given as a gift, the recipient should be aware, prepared, and willing to care for the animal. It would be a terrible surprise to receive something like this, especially if it would cause problems and headaches arranging for the animal's care around traveling or a busy schedule. I think a person who gives a gift like this is just as bad as a person who doesn't neuter their dog and tries to pawn the puppies off on others. I agree that it is unlikely this 'gift' was picked just for the exchange and more likely an animal the giver just didn't wish to care for anymore.

Anyway this trumps the worst gift I have ever seen at a white elephant; a poinsettia plant with no flower, the stem was broken.